US10009392B2 - System health and integration monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for monitoring the system health and/or integration of networks of a collaboration conferencing system of a telecommunications network is provided. In particular, a monitor system is provided that is associated with a telecommunications network to automate connection to a collaboration conferencing bridge that utilizes a plurality of collaboration conferencing systems. Through the automation of connecting to the conferencing bridge that is hosting the collaboration conference, the system may determine if one or more of the systems of the collaboration are underperforming when compared to performance standards for the systems. The connectivity or health information of the conferencing system may thus be measured and provided to a system administrator to identify the issues within the collaboration system to remedy to the detected issues.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods that provide for collaboration conferencing with multiple participants using devices connected to a telecommunication network, including a VoIP network, and more specifically for a system for testing the health and integration of the components of the collaboration conferencing system.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication networks provide for the transmission of information across some distance through terrestrial, wireless or satellite communication networks. Such communications may involve voice, data or multimedia information, among others. In addition, telecommunication networks often offer features and/or services to the customers of the network that provide flexible and varied ways in which the communications are transmitted over the network. For example, some telecommunication networks provide a conferencing feature that allows several users of the network to communicate at once, rather than a simple person-to-person communication. The number of participants to a conference communication may range from several users to several thousand users communicating on the same telephonic, video and/or data call.

In many instances, the collaboration conference system includes systems and/or components from several different systems. For example, a first network or system may provide a voice component of the collaboration conference while a second network or system may provide an online component of the collaboration. However, because multiple systems may be incorporated or used for a collaboration conference, troubleshooting of issues that arise during the collaboration conference may be difficult as a single administrator may not have access to each component within the multiple systems. Thus, receiving an indication of a connectivity issue or other problem within the collaboration conference system and executing a solution to the detected problem may require extensive communication and sharing of remedies between the various operators of the varying systems of the collaboration conference. Such collaboration may be both time and workforce intensive.

It is with these and other issues in mind that various aspects of the present disclosure were developed.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of a method for testing a network. The implementation may include the operations of obtaining login information for a user of a collaboration conference feature hosted by the network from a subscription server, accessing a web-based portal to initiate a collaboration conference utilizing the obtained login information, and measuring a latency to connect to a conferencing bridge through the web-based portal. The method may further include comparing the measured latency to connect to a conferencing bridge to a threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the conferencing bridge through the portal and transmitting an indication that the connection to the conferencing bridge through the portal exceeded the threshold value to a computing device of an administrator of the network.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of a system for testing a collaboration conference system on a telecommunications network. The system comprises a database storing user information for at least one user of a collaboration conference feature hosted by the telecommunications network, a subscription server in communication with the database and maintaining the user information of at least one user in the database, and a system monitor. The system monitor includes a processing device and a computer-readable medium connected to the processing device configured to store information and instructions that, when executed by the processing device, performs particular operations. Such operations include obtaining the user information of the at least one user of the collaboration conference hosted by the telecommunications network from the subscription server, accessing a web-based portal executed on a computing device to initiate a collaboration conference utilizing the obtained login information, and measuring a latency to connect to a conferencing bridge of the telecommunications network through the web-based portal. The operations also may include comparing the measured latency to connect to a conferencing bridge to a threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the conferencing bridge through the portal and transmitting an indication that the connection to the conferencing bridge through the portal exceeded the threshold value to a computing device of an administrator of the network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operating environment, including a collaboration intelligence engine, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary system for monitoring the health and integration of the systems of a collaboration conferencing system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for a system to monitor the health and integration of the systems of a collaboration conferencing feature of a telecommunications network.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate a flowchart of a method for a system monitor computing device to access a portal to a collaboration conferencing system to test the connectivity of the conferencing system.

FIGS. 5A-5B are illustrations of interfaces through which user information of a collaboration conference is obtained and updated.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system which may be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computer program products, and the like, for monitoring the system health and/or integration of systems of a collaboration conferencing system of a telecommunications network. In particular, a system is provided associated with a telecommunications network to automate connection to a collaboration conferencing bridge that utilizes a plurality of collaboration conferencing systems. For example, a collaboration conference may include a first system to provide an audio component of the collaboration and a second system to provide an online component of the collaboration. Through the automation of connecting to the conferencing bridge that is hosting the collaboration conference, the system may determine if one or more of the systems of the collaboration are underperforming when compared to performance standards for the systems. For example, the system may, during the automated connection to the conferencing bridge, detect that the online portion of the collaboration is not connecting. In another example, the audio portion of the collaboration conference is connecting the caller to the conferencing bridge, but the connection is occurring slower than anticipated or desired. The connectivity or health information of the conferencing system may thus be measured and provided to a system administrator to identify the issues within the collaboration system to remedy to the detected issues. In this manner, the health and integration of a collaboration system that utilizes one or more networks, systems, or administrators may be determined through the automated connection of the system to the conferencing bridge.

FIG. 1 illustrates anexemplary operating environment100 for hosting conference collaboration communications between multiple participants. Theenvironment100 provides for setting up communication sessions between network users. With specific reference toFIG. 1, theenvironment100 includes aVoIP network102, which may be provided by a wholesale network service provider. However, while theenvironment100 ofFIG. 1 shows a configuration using theVoIP network102, it should be appreciated that any communication network is envisioned as included in theoperating environment100. For example,network102 may be a circuit switch communication network utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM) or plain old telephone service (POTS) switching. In general, thenetwork102 ofFIG. 1 may be any communication network known or hereafter developed. However, for ease of understanding, a VoIP network embodiment is hereafter used to describe the communications network.

TheVoIP network102 includes numerous components such as, but not limited to gateways, routers, and registrars, which enable communication across theVoIP network102, but are not shown or described in detail here because those skilled in the art will readily understand these components. More relevant to this description is the interaction and communication between theVoIP network102 and other entities, such as the one or more customer home or business local area networks (LANs)106, where a participant in a conference will connect with the system for the conference.

Customer network106 can include communication devices such as, but not limited to, a personal computer or atelephone110 connected to a router/firewall114. Although shown inFIG. 1 astelephonic devices110, the communication devices may include any type of communication device that receives a multimedia signal, such as an audio, video or web-based signal, and presents that signal for use by a user of the communication device. The communication and networking components of thecustomer network106 enable a user at thecustomer network106 to communicate via theVoIP network102 to other communication devices, such as another customer network and/or ananalog telephone115,120. Components of thecustomer network106 are typically home- or business-based, but they can be relocated and may be designed for easy portability. For example, thecommunication device110 may be a wireless (e.g., cellular) telephone or portable laptop computer.

Thecustomer network106 typically connects to theVoIP network102 via aborder network122, such as one provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Theborder network122 is typically provided and maintained by a business or organization such as a local telephone company or cable company. Theborder network122 may provide network/communication-related services to their customers. In contrast, thecommunication device120 accesses, and is accessed by, theVoIP network102 via a public switched telephone network (PSTN)126 operated by a local exchange carrier (LEC). Communication via any of the networks can be wired, wireless, or any combination thereof. Additionally, theborder network122 and PSTN126 may communicate, in some embodiments, with the VoIP Network102 through a media gateway device (130,132). For ease of instruction, only threecommunication devices110,115,120 are shown communicating with theVoIP network102; however, numerous such devices, and other types of devices, may be connected with the network, which is equipped to handle enormous numbers of simultaneous calls and other communications.

In general, a request for a collaboration conference over theVoIP network102 is initiated by a requester through one of thecommunication devices110,115,120 associated with the network. As used herein, the term “collaboration conference” includes any type of collaboration between three or more users of a communication network. For example, the collaboration conference may include audio collaboration, video collaboration, web collaboration, a combination of any of the above, and the like. For ease of instruction, the collaboration conferences discussed herein are generally made in reference to an audio conference and/or web collaboration, although any type of collaboration conference over a telecommunications network is envisioned with respect to the present disclosure. Similarly, althoughFIG. 1 illustrates thecommunication devices110,115,120 as telephonic devices, the communication devices may be any type of communication device, including personal computers, cellular phones and the like.

Upon receipt of the request for a collaboration conference, thenetwork102 routes the request to acollaboration control system140 integrated within thenetwork102. It should be appreciated that thecollaboration control system140 may be a part of thenetwork102, may be separate from the network, or may have portions deployed in the network and out of the network. In addition, thecollaboration control system140 may be resident on one or more components of theVoIP network102, including several instances of the collaboration control system integrated throughout the network.

To transmit the request to the network, the requester uses thecommunication device110,115,120 to dial a conference specific telephone number and/or access a web-based collaboration conference component. In one embodiment, the network, upon receipt of the dialed communication, executes an application that queries the requester to enter an access code number that the requester enters into thecommunication device110,115,120. In response, thecollaboration control system140 may route the one or more requests to one ofseveral conference bridges142,144 associated with theVoIP network102 for hosting of the collaboration conference. Although only twoconference bridges142,144 are shown inFIG. 1, it should be appreciated that any number of conference bridges may be associated with thenetwork102 for hosting collaboration conferences.

In general, the conference bridges142,144 provide a hosting site for a collaboration conference between a plurality of users of thenetwork102. Thus,conference bridge A142 may host a collaboration conference whileconference bridge B144 may host an additional collaboration conference. In particular,conference bridge A142 is connected to thecommunications network102 through amedia gateway133 similar to the media gateway disclosed above. This configuration may be utilized when theconference bridge142 is a time division multiplex (TDM) bridge.Conference bridge B144 is internal to thecommunications network102 through which the communications of the conference are transmitted. This configuration is utilized for Internet Protocol (IP) based bridges.

Additionally, thecollaboration control system140 may be configured for use with any number of network and conference bridge platforms. For example, thetelecommunications network102 ofFIG. 1 may be configured as a TDM network or an IP-based network, which includes video, audio and web-based components, to which therouting component140 may be configured to interface. Another particular network and/or conference bridge platform supported by thenetwork configuration102 ofFIG. 1 is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based network. For example,conference bridge B144 may be a SIP-based conference bridge. Such IP-based components may provide additional conferencing features to the network by providing information concerning the collaboration conference in a header of a message transmitted through the network such as an identification of the collaboration conference, video integration, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) based routing and conference integration, conference access credentials for authentication and permission to enter the requested conference. SIP-based conference bridges may also provide high definition audio, additional security features and transitions between collaboration conferences without having to redial into the system. In general, because components operating utilizing SIP can exchange information within a header, many additional features for a collaboration conference can be offered to participants on a SIP-based conference bridge. In addition, SIP-based routing devices may utilize many of the advantages of information exchange within the header when communicating with TDM-based network devices.

To connect to a collaboration conference, each participant to the conference may be routed to thesame conference bridge142,144 for the duration of the conference. Theconference bridge142,144, in turn, provides communication ports for each participant such that each participant can hear or otherwise participate in the collaboration conference. Any conference bridge known in the art or hereafter developed may be integrated into thesystem100 ofFIG. 1 for hosting a collaboration conference. In addition, the term “conference bridge” or “bridge” includes any component of a communication network that provides an access point to one or more users of the network for a collaboration conference. For example, “conference bridge” may also include such devices as a media server device, a gateway server device or the like as configured within thenetwork102.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating anexemplary system200 for monitoring the health and integration of the systems of a collaboration conferencing system. In one embodiment, the components of thesystem200 are included in thenetwork102 discussed above with reference toFIG. 1. In other embodiments, the components of thesystem200 are in communication with thenetwork102 as described but otherwise are separate from the network. As should be appreciated, thesystem200 may include more or fewer components than those illustrated inFIG. 2. As such, thesystem200 illustrated inFIG. 2 is but one example of a system for monitoring the health and integration of a collaboration conferencing system.

In general, thesystem200 includes asystem monitor202. In one embodiment, the system monitor202 is a program executed on a computing device, such as an application server or personal computer. The system monitor202 may perform one or more of the operations described below in reference toFIGS. 3 and 4B to monitor the health, connectivity, integration, or any other aspect of a collaboration conferencing system of a telecommunications network. To perform these operations, the system monitor202 may communicate with asubscription server204 of a telecommunications network. In general, thesubscription server204 is a computing device that maintains information of one or more users or subscribers to a collaboration conferencing feature available through atelecommunications network102. As such, thesubscription server204 may be operated by an administrator of thetelecommunications network102 through collaboration conferences are available. In one particular embodiment, thesubscription server204 is dedicated to a particular customer to thetelecommunications network102 to store and maintain all or some of the network users associated with that particular customer. For example, each network user assigned the same customer number or identification may be associated with aparticular subscription server204. In another embodiment, thesubscription server204 may maintain information for any number of collaboration customers, such as through one or more virtual machines executed by thesubscription server204.

In general, the information maintained by thesubscription server204 includes access information for the users associated with the server to the collaboration conferencing feature. For example, the collaboration conferencing system may assign a user identifier, access number and code, password, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the user, a customer number a user is associated with, and the like. This information is utilized by the system so that the system may identify certain users to provide proper services and billing to the users of the system. In the embodiment where thesubscription server204 is dedicated to a particular customer, the associateddatabase206 may also be dedicated to theparticular subscription server204. In another embodiment, thedatabase206 may be shared among several such servers of thesystem200.

The user information stored in thedatabase206 and maintained by thesubscription server204 may be updated periodically as new users and/or new services are added to a particular customer's plan. In thesystem200 embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2, the user information is updated directly in the database from the updateduser information portal208. Such a portal208 may be available to one or more administrators of a telecommunications network that hosts or is otherwise associated with the collaboration conference system. In another embodiment, the updateduser information portal208 may communicate directly with thesubscription server204 to provide updated user information to the server. Once provided, thesubscription server204 may update theuser information database206 accordingly. Updating user information is described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 5B.

The system monitor202 may also communicates with athird party portal210 that provides access to a collaboration conference on thetelecommunications network102. As explained above, certain components of the collaboration conference may be provided by separate networks or facilitators, such as an audio portion provided by a first network and a web portion provided by a second network. Thus, in some instances, a user of the collaboration conference feature utilizes a portal to begin or otherwise access the collaboration conference. The portal210 may be operated by a third party facilitator or administrator that is separate from the network on which the system monitor202 executes. As shown in thesystem200 ofFIG. 2, the system monitor202 may utilize thethird party portal210 to access atelecommunications network212 used for providing the collaboration conference feature to the system monitor. In one example, thenetwork212 is thetelecommunications network102 discussed in reference toFIG. 1 above.

As mentioned, the system monitor202 may monitor the system health and/or integration of systems of a collaboration conferencing system of the telecommunications network. In particular,FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for the system monitor202 to monitor the health and integration of the systems of a collaboration conferencing. Thus, the operations of themethod300 may be performed by the system monitor202 of thesystem200 ofFIG. 2. In general, the operations may be performed through one or more software programs, one or more hardware components, or a combination of both software and hardware of the system monitor202.

Beginning inoperation302, the system monitor202 obtains user information for a collaboration conference session provided for by one or more telecommunications network. For example, the system monitor202 may request user information from thesubscription server204. Thesubscription server204 may obtain the information from theuser information database206 and provide the information to the system monitor. In general, the user information includes information that a user of the system may utilize to log into the collaboration conferencing system to join a collaboration conference. Such information may include, but is not limited to, a user identification, a customer identification, an access number, an access code, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computing device associated with the user, and the like.

Inoperation304, the system monitor202 utilizes the obtained information to initiate a collaboration conference through thethird party portal210 to the collaboration conference feature. In one particular example, the system monitor utilizes a computing device to navigate to the third party portal210 (such as through a URL associated with the portal). Once at the portal, the system monitor202 may populate certain fields within the portal210 with the obtained user information. Other operations performed by the system monitor202 include selecting one or more buttons or otherwise indicating next steps within the log-in process of the portal210. In general, any interactions between the system monitor202 and thethird party portal210 may or may not include the user information obtained from thesubscription server204.

Through the portal210, the system monitor202 may automatically initiate a collaboration conference with a telecommunications network. In one particular embodiment, the collaboration conference may include portions hosted by separate networks or facilitators, such as an audio portion hosted on a first network and a web portion hosted on a separate network. In general, however, the system monitor202 initiates the collaboration conference through the portal210 in a similar manner in which a user of the system would initiate the collaboration conference. In other words, the system monitor202 utilizes the user information to begin or join a collaboration conference through the same or similar process by which a human user utilizes the portal210.

As the system monitor202 initiates the collaboration conference through the portal210, the monitor may also begin measuring the time or latency to connection with thecollaboration conference306. More particularly, the system monitor202 may monitor the time or latency to connect to the various components of the collaboration conference, including time to connect to the web portion and/or time to connect to the audio portion of the collaboration conference. The system monitor202 may also determine the responsiveness of the portal210 itself during the log-in and conference initiation processes are completed. In general, through the timing of the various connections of the networks to initiate a collaboration conference, the system monitor202 may determine if one or more connectivity issues exist within the networks during establishing the conference. To aid the system monitor202, one or more threshold values may be maintained by the system monitor and applied to the various steps performed within the portal210. Any step to initiate the conference that exceeds the threshold value may be noted and reported to a system administrator, as explained in more detail below. The system monitor202 may time or otherwise measure how long any one step in the number of steps of the portal210 to access or initiate the collaboration conference of the telecommunications network.

Inoperation308, the system monitor202 may determine if connection to a collaboration conference occurs. In some instances, one or more of the components or networks that are used to join or initiation a collaboration conference may not be functioning during the automated logging in by the system monitor. Such a malfunction of the components may cause the system monitor to be unable to connect to the conferencing bridge that is hosting the collaboration conference. If the connection fails, the system monitor202 reports the inability of the monitor to connect to the collaboration conference inoperation312 to a system administrator associated with or otherwise in communication with the system monitor202. If themonitor202 is connected to the collaboration conference through the portal210, the monitor may then report the measured time to perform the steps of connecting to the collaboration conference through the portal210 to the system administrator inoperation310.

In general, the system monitor202 transmits information to one or more network administrators associated with the system monitor. In one embodiment, the administrator provides one or more portions of the collaboration conference. For example, a telecommunications network company may provide the collaboration conference feature to its clients. However, the company may host the audio portion of the conference to the customer and utilize a second network or company to provide the web portion. In this example, the network administrator may not have access to those components used for the web portion of the collaboration conference. To monitor the general health of the system and the integration of the networks, the administrator may use the system monitor202 to access the collaboration conferencing system and provide information or reports on the connection speed of the system. Thus, in one embodiment, the system monitor202 provides the measured information to a network administrator of the collaboration conferencing system. However, the system monitor202 may be configured to provide a report on the health and integration of the collaboration conferencing system to any user of the system monitor. Through the report or information provided by the system monitor202, an administrator may determine which network or component may not be performing adequately and initiate a process to remedy the issue.

In one embodiment, the report generated by themonitor system202 includes an electronic mail sent to an account associated with the administrator of the system. In another embodiment, the report may be provided through a graphical user interface that the administrator accesses to view the report. In general, the report may be provided to the administrator in any manner to alert the administrator to a detected issue with the collaboration conferencing system. Further, themonitor system202 may be configured to provide a report following each test of the system, provide a report after a number of tests, and/or provide a report only when a latency of the system is detected that exceeds a particular threshold value, among other configurations.

Inoperation314, themonitor system202 waits for a timed delay to elapse. In general, the system monitor202 may be configured to perform the above operations any number of times, including routinely after a delay time has elapsed between executions of the operations. In one particular example, the operations of the system monitor202 may be performed every five minutes to continually test the performance of the collaboration conferencing system. Other delays between tests may also be incorporated into the system. Regardless of the timed delay, the system monitor202 may return tooperation302 once the delay has elapsed to being themethod300 again to test the connection to the collaboration conferencing system. By automating of initiating a collaboration conference through the portal210, the system monitor202 may continually monitor and perform an end-to-end test the system health and integration of components of the system to ensure proper operation and/or determine when an issue occurs and in which component or network such an issue occurred.

FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate a flowchart of a method for a system monitor202 computing device to access a portal210 to a collaboration conferencing system to test the connectivity of the conferencing system. As such, the operations of themethod400 may be performed by the system monitor202 discussed above in relation to thesystem200 ofFIG. 2. More particularly, a computing device (such as an application server or desktop computing device) executes one or more instructions to perform the operations of themethod400 ofFIG. 4. It should be appreciated at themethod400 is but one example of operations to monitor the system or network health and integration of a collaboration conferencing system.

Beginning inoperation402, the system monitor202 utilizes a computing device to navigate to asubscription server204 from which subscriber information or data may be obtained. For example, thesubscription server204 may be an application server that is accessible through a URL or IP address. Thus, the system monitor202 utilizes the computing device to communicate with thesubscription server204 through some access to the server, such as by utilizing a URL address to navigate to a web-based interface executed by the subscription server through which the subscriber or user information is available.

In one embodiment, the user or subscriber information is stored or otherwise maintained in a table500 similar to that illustrated inFIG. 5A. As such, the information obtained by the system monitor202 from thesubscription server204 may include any of the information included in the table500 ofFIG. 5A. Although the table500 is illustrated inFIG. 5A as empty, the various entries within the table may be populated by thesubscription server204 as users are added to the collaboration conferencing system. In general, the table500 includes entries that identify a particular user of the collaboration conference, such as columns for a particular Domain,Username504, andName516. Other information within the table500 may also help the collaboration system to identify particulars about a user's account, such as column for aserver506 through which the user's information is available, abilling account number514, amaintenance schedule520, and log-in information524 for a network administrator to perform maintenance on a user's account. In addition, access information to initiate a collaboration conference associated with a particular user is also provided, such as anaccess number508 that is used to dial into a collaboration conference, anaccess code510 that identifies a particular user of the system, and apass code512. More or less information may be included in the user information table500 as desired by an administrator of a network hosting the collaboration conference.

As mentioned, the system monitor202 accesses thesubscription server204 to obtain user information. In one embodiment, the information provided by theserver204 may include one or more of the information entries in the user information table500 ofFIG. 5. This information provides access information associated with a particular user of the system to the system monitor202. Inoperation404, the system monitor builds a file of such access parameters that may be utilized to gain access to a collaboration conference through a portal210. As explained in more detail below, the file is utilized by the system monitor202 during the process of initiating a collaboration conference through a web-basedportal210.

Inoperation406, the system monitor202 navigates the computing device to thecollaboration conference portal210. For example, the portal210 may be a webpage that is accessible through a URL entered into a browser executed on the computing device. Further, the URL that is utilized to access the portal210 may include one or more of the user information obtained by the system monitor202. For example, a domain name, user name, or a server identification may be used and included directly in the URL to access aparticular portal210 to begin the process of initiating the collaboration conference. Once accessed, the portal210 may provide a user interface (such as within the browser of the computing device) through which a collaboration conference is initiated or joined.

Through the portal210, the system monitor202 may start or join a new collaboration conference inoperation408. In one particular embodiment, the system monitor202 may click or otherwise select a button within the portal210 to begin the collaboration conference. For example, the system monitor202 may analyze the hypertext markup language (HTML) of the portal webpage to determine the location of the button to begin a collaboration conference within the webpage. Further, the system monitor202 may then provide an input to the webpage at or near the location of the “start conference” button to activate the button and start a collaboration conference. However, it should be appreciated that different types ofportals210 to different types of collaboration conferencing systems may have alternative layouts and/or other ways through which a user may initiate a collaboration conference. The system monitor202, in such circumstances, may be aware of the portal210 type such that whatever operations are used to initiate or join a collaboration conference through the portal, the system monitor performs those operations to begin the collaboration conference through the portal. The selection of activation of a “start” button is but one example of such operations that are performed by the system monitor202.

In a similar manner inoperation410, the system monitor202 connects to an audio portion of the collaboration conference. Thus, the system monitor202 may select a “connect to audio” button or otherwise indicate through the portal210 that an audio portion of the collaboration conference is initiated. In some instances, selecting to activate an audio portion through the portal210 creates one or more prompts for more information entered through the portal. For example, the portal210 may request a user to enter subscriber information (such as an access number and/or access code) to authenticate the user for the collaboration conference. Thus, inoperation412, the system monitor202 enters the requested information into the portal210 to begin the audio portion. Such information may be the information obtained from thesubscriber server204 discussed above. Further, such information may be input to the portal210 with one or more delays between fields of information to allow the collaboration conferencing system to receive the entered information. For example, an access number may be entered into a field in the portal210, followed by a five second delay, followed by entering an access code into another field in the portal. In general, any combination of information and delays may be input in the portal210 from the system monitor202 to authenticate the system monitor to the audio portion of the collaboration conference.

Continuing toFIG. 4B, the system monitor202 may detect when the audio portion of the collaboration conference is connected. The connection of the audio portion indicates that the computing device of the system monitor202 is connected to the conferencing bridge hosting the collaboration conference through the network hosting the audio portion. Similarly, the system monitor202 may detect when the web portion of the collaboration conference is also connected. In one embodiment, the detection of the connection to the conferencing bridge hosting the collaboration conference occurs when the interface of the portal210 changes to indicate the connection is successful. Once the system monitor202 is connected, the monitor may provide an input to the portal210 to disconnect from the collaboration conference inoperation416. Further, the system monitor202 may end the collaboration conference through the portal inoperation418 in a similar manner.

Throughout the process of entering the collaboration conference and disconnecting from the conference, the system monitor202 may time or otherwise determine the latency experienced for each step in the process of themethod400 ofFIGS. 4A-4B. By measuring the latency of the steps experienced by the system monitor202, the monitor may determine if there is a performance issue with one or more of the components and/or networks associated with the collaboration conference. In one embodiment, the system monitor202 may compare the measured latencies with one or more threshold values to determine if the connectivity of the conferencing system is within expected bounds. If themonitor202 detects that the connection to the conferencing bridge occurs too slow, the monitor may prepare a report or alarm and transmit the report to a system administrator inoperation420 to alert the administrator of a potential issue with the collaboration conferencing system. In this manner, the system monitor202 may monitor the system health and/or integration of systems of the collaboration conferencing system of a telecommunications network by logging into the system as a user of the system such that the system monitor does not need intimate access to each component of the collaboration conferencing system or network.

Returning to thesystem200 ofFIG. 2, the user information stored in thedatabase206 may be updated through a userinformation update portal208. The user information stored in thedatabase206 may also include specific information utilized by the system monitor202 to log into thethird party portal210. For example,FIG. 5B illustrates5B an interface accessible through the updateduser information portal208 to update user information of a collaboration conference. Through theediting interface550, a system administrator may edit the user information stored in the database and used by the system monitor202 to log into the collaboration conference through the portal210.

In general, much of the user information editable through theedit interface550 includes the information discussed above with reference toFIG. 5A. Thus, theedit interface550 includes a domain name and user name associated with a particular user. A server that maintains the user information is also included. The additional information to identify a user, such as an access number, access code, billing account number, and customer name is also editable. Also editable are parameters associated with the user that aid the system monitor202 in accessing a collaboration conference through the portal210. For example, theinterface550 includes athreshold value552 that defines the number (in milliseconds) allowed for the entire process of accessing the collaboration conference to complete. As explained above, if the threshold value is reached, the system monitor202 will shut down and a notification with the last step completed (and the specific user information to log into the collaboration conference) is transmitted to a system administrator.

Other entries in theinterface550 also aid the system monitor202. For example, the name of the button to connect to the audio portion of the collaboration conference is included as the “call button”554 entry. This entry defines what button in the portal210 the system monitor202 searches for to connect to the audio portion of the collaboration conference. In this manner, theentry554 may be altered by an administrator to respond to different types ofportal210 or updates to a portal interface. In a similar manner, alogin URL556 and ajoin meeting URL558 are also included in theeditable interface550 that navigate the system monitor202 to the portal210 and/or a website to start a collaboration conference.

As mentioned above, the system monitor202 may enter information into the portal210 when accessing a collaboration conference. In one embodiment, the information entered may be in the form of a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) series of inputs to the portal. Thus, theeditable interface550 includes a string ofDTMF inputs560 entered into the portal210 to access the collaboration conference. Further, the DTMF string may include one or more delays (represented in the interface as vertical lines) to ensure that each entry is received by the system. In addition, theinterface550 may include anentry562 defining the name of the button within the portal210 that indicates when a connection is successful, anentry564 that defines the name of the button in the portal210 that disconnects the user from the collaboration conference, and anentry566 that defines the name of the button in the portal that ends the collaboration conference. Through these definitions in theinterface550, the system monitor202 may successfully navigate the portal210 to test the connectivity of the collaboration conference system. Further, the entries within theinterface550 may be edited to adjust to new or updated portal interfaces.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing device orcomputer system600 which may be used in implementing embodiments of the present invention. For example, thecomputing system600 may be the system monitor202 described above. The computer system (system) includes one or more processors602-606. Processors602-606 may include one or more internal levels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unit to direct interaction with theprocessor bus612.Processor bus612, also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couple the processors602-606 with thesystem interface614. Processors602-606 may also be purpose built for processing/mixing media data, such as audio or video components of a media stream, such as a digital signal processor.System interface614 may be connected to theprocessor bus612 to interface other components of thesystem600 with theprocessor bus612. For example,system interface614 may include amemory controller616 for interfacing amain memory616 with theprocessor bus612. Themain memory616 typically includes one or more memory cards and a control circuit (not shown).System interface614 may also include an input/output (I/O)interface620 to interface one or more I/O bridges or I/O devices with theprocessor bus612. One or more I/O controllers and/or I/O devices may be connected with the I/O bus626, such as I/O controller628 and I/O device660, as illustrated.

I/O device660 may also include an input device (not shown), such as an alphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys for communicating information and/or command selections to the processors602-606. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to the processors602-606 and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

System600 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to asmain memory616, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readable devices coupled to theprocessor bus612 for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processors602-606.Main memory616 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processors602-606.System600 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device coupled to theprocessor bus612 for storing static information and instructions for the processors602-606. The system set forth inFIG. 6 is but one possible example of a computer system that may employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed bycomputer system600 in response toprocessor604 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained inmain memory616. These instructions may be read intomain memory616 from another machine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained inmain memory616 may cause processors602-606 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media may take the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includes optical or magnetic disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such asmain memory616. Common forms of machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or other types of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which are described in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the invention and are thus within the spirit and scope of the present invention. From the above description and drawings, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the particular embodiments shown and described are for purposes of illustrations only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. References to details of particular embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Claims (18)

What is claimed is:

1. A method for testing a network, the method comprising:

obtaining login information for a user of a collaboration conference feature hosted by the network from a subscription server;

accessing a web-based portal to initiate a collaboration conference utilizing the obtained login information;

measuring a first latency to connect to a first conferencing bridge through the web-based portal, the first conferencing bridge comprising an access point to a web portion of the collaboration conference;

comparing the measured first latency to a first threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the first conferencing bridge through the portal;

measuring a second latency to connect to a second conferencing bridge through the web-based portal, the second conferencing bridge comprising an access point to an audio portion of the collaboration conference;

comparing the measured second latency to a second threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the second conferencing bridge through the portal;

transmitting an indication that the connection to at least one of the first and second conferencing bridges through the portal exceeded the applicable threshold value to a computing device of an administrator of the network; and

periodically repeating at least the obtaining, the accessing, the measuring, and the comparing at regularly scheduled intervals.

2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the collaboration conference comprises an audio portion and connecting to the conferencing bridge through the web-based portal comprises connecting to the audio portion of the collaboration conference.

3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the collaboration conference comprises a web portion and connecting to the conferencing bridge through the web-based portal comprises connecting to the web portion of the collaboration conference.

4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the web-based portal is accessed through a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the web-based portal, the URL comprising a portion of the login information for the user of the collaboration conference feature hosted by the network.

5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the login information comprises at least an access number and an access passcode associated with the user of the collaboration conference.

6. The method ofclaim 5 wherein accessing the web-based portal to initiate the collaboration conference comprises entering the access number and the access passcode into an interface of the web-based portal.

7. The method ofclaim 6 further comprising:

selecting a disconnect portion of the interface of the web-based portal to disconnect from the collaboration conference.

8. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising:

detecting a non-connection condition with the collaboration conference through the web-based portal.

9. The method ofclaim 8 wherein the transmitted indication comprises a non-connection indicator.

10. A system for testing a collaboration conference system on a telecommunications network, the system comprising:

a database storing user information for at least one user of a collaboration conference feature hosted by the telecommunications network;

a subscription server in communication with the database and maintaining the user information of at least one user in the database; and

a system monitor comprising:

a processing device; and

a computer-readable medium connected to the processing device configured to store information and instructions that, when executed by the processing device, performs the operations of:

obtaining the user information of the at least one user of the collaboration conference hosted by the telecommunications network from the subscription server;

accessing a web-based portal executed on a computing device to initiate a collaboration conference utilizing the obtained login information;

measuring a first latency to connect to a first conferencing bridge of the telecommunications network through the web-based portal;

comparing the measured first latency to a first threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the first conferencing bridge through the portal;

measuring a second latency to connect to a second conferencing bridge through the web-based portal, the second conferencing bridge comprising an access point to an audio portion of the collaboration conference;

comparing the measured second latency to a second threshold value comprising an upper limit on connecting to the second conferencing bridge through the portal;

transmitting an indication that the connection to at least one of the first and second conferencing bridges through the portal exceeded the applicable threshold value to a computing device of an administrator of the network; and

periodically repeating at least the obtaining, accessing, measuring, and comparing at regularly scheduled intervals.

11. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the collaboration conference comprises an audio portion and the system monitor connects to the conferencing bridge through the web-based portal by connecting to the audio portion of the collaboration conference.

12. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the collaboration conference comprises a web portion and the system monitor connects to the conferencing bridge through the web-based portal by connecting to the web portion of the collaboration conference.

13. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the web-based portal is accessed through a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the web-based portal, the URL comprising a portion of the login information for the user of the collaboration conference feature hosted by the network.

14. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the login information comprises at least an access number and an access passcode associated with the user of the collaboration conference.

15. The system ofclaim 14 wherein the system monitor accesses the web-based portal to initiate the collaboration conference by entering the access number and the access passcode into an interface of the web-based portal.

16. The system ofclaim 15 wherein the executed information and instructions of the system monitor further comprises:

selecting a disconnect portion of the interface of the web-based portal to disconnect from the collaboration conference.

17. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the executed information and instructions of the system monitor further comprises:

detecting a non-connection condition with the collaboration conference through the web-based portal.

18. The system ofclaim 17 wherein the transmitted indication comprises a non-connection indicator.

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